New Intel, Surveilance and Recon unit at Kandahar

451st Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs ^ | 5/4/2010 | Tech. Sgt. Renni Thornton

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5/4/2010 - Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan -- Members of the 361st Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron stood proud during a squadron activation ceremony May 1 on Kandahar Airfield.

Col. John A. Cherrey, commander, 451st Expeditionary Operations Group, hosted the ceremony and extended his thanks to the more than 80-member unit.

"In 2002, the unit was reactivated again, flying other aircraft. But this is not about the aircraft--it's about you, the members. It is about everything you all contribute--from the maintenance people on the ground to the pilots and commanding officers. You couldn't have a better squadron commander with Colonel Halford." said Colonel Cherrey.

"I am honored and humbled by the tremendous opportunity to command the Air Force's newest squadron employing the MC-12 and more importantly, to command such an outstanding group of Airmen." said Lt. Col. Halford.

"The MC-12 is a critical capability, fielded at a critical time. Your actions will drastically improve joint and combined counterinsurgency capabilities, assist Afghanistan with defeating the insurgency, and ultimately save American and coalition lives."

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Hat tip to SandRat's previous post: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2467589/posts

The enemy is chatting about this unit, as well they should. The coming fight this summer will be a pivotal and historical phase to the entire war in Afpak.

We have the chance to degrade the enemy significantly, hopefully so that they will decide to stop fighting and seek a political solution.

This asset can loiter for up to 8 hours and provide real-time video of any target along with monitoring any communication to and from that target.

There is one squadron at Bagram, now one at Kandahar. Approximately 100 sigint operators, in country, process the intel from each aircraft and accompanying drones and distribute it to ground and other combined forces.

This greatly improves our overwatch ability for each tactical operation, "flattening out" the intel on location instead of sending it up "high" and then back down to the ground forces. The onboard operators will be in direct contact with ground units.

BTW, nearly all of our 6,500 UAV's are in Afpak. Hummingbirds have also been deployed recently. They are a vertical takeoff UAV, that can fly 2,500 miles and loiter and hold position for 24 hours.

The enemy ought to be very nervous.

More info on Project Liberty:

http://www.airforce-magazine.com/Features/newtech/Pages/ProjectLibertyHeadsDownrange.aspx